Dear Mattie: What styles of dresses are in fashion?
Tired of Black in Lonsdale
Dear Lonsdale: This season dresses are all the rage! They are wearable pieces that are modern and trendy. There is an opportunity for personal flare as there are so many colours and patterns to choose from. It is definitely a dress season. Everywhere you turn you will see ladies wearing dresses.
The two trendiest styles are the mod look and the music festival look. The mod look is derived from patterns and silhouettes from the 1960s and '70s, but it is not a retro look. The music festival look is inspired by the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Both are fun trends that can be casual or professional.
The mod dress features a fit-and-flare cut. There is a cinched waist created by the seams and hem lengths fall to the knee. Belts are popular with this silhouette. This look resembles a uniform, but with so much more style. The mod look incorporates great colours with great patterns. It is a bold presentation. This style of dress can also be one colour or a monochromatic tone-on-tone colour scheme for a more conservative look. Although the silhouette may be subtle, the colours and patterns are what make the statement.
The music festival look is loose and long. This is a fluid and lean look, not a messy one. Although these dresses can have many patterns and colours, staying within a theme or family of colours enhances the lean and fluid silhouette. Layering pieces under and over this style of dress can create a variety of statements. This is more than a summer hippie look. By adding pieces to this dress you can create whatever look fits your lifestyle needs.
The patterns on the dresses are what make this season so exciting. There are geometric and floral patterns. Geometric patterns include chevron, gingham, vertical and horizontal stripes. The stripes are modern in that they resemble a bar code. Some of the lines are oversized, creating an abstract look.
Florals are a traditional look, but today's dresses are not traditional. The prints are expressive, not passive. Some are exaggerated and repeated to create a new pattern. A pattern might be spliced to look somewhat striped and some florals are being digitized to look more modern.
A mash-up of prints is the biggest trend in patterns this season. It is as though a traditional image is multi-tasking to create an ultra-modern look.
Fabrics make a statement with dresses. The mod look has a cotton, twill or linen texture. This creates its tailored silhouette. The festival look has a lighter, gauzy, airy feel that creates a fluid silhouette. Some new fabrics to look for are mid-wash denim. The zipper is a visible detail that creates a trendy vintage look. Lightweight fabrics can be layered with 3D appliques to add dimension to your style. Eyelet dresses and lace trims in many colours add fashionable flair without looking too feminine.
These trends create a nouveau street style. The fashion culture is becoming a modern graffiti of professionals, millennials and everyone in between who want to embrace fun trends.
Adieu,
Mattie
Mattie is a freelance writer and fashion expert. Reach her on her Facebook page of follow her on Pinterest at Mattie-a-la-Mode.
